Singapore Airlines to serve Taoyuan with 787 jets

By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA) it is to use its new Boeing 787-10 on its Taiwan route from Jan. 1, initially deploying one aircraft on two daily flights, and a second plane from the third quarter, the company said yesterday, adding that it expects a 10 percent increase in passenger numbers this year.

SIA has ordered 49 of the aircraft and has taken delivery of six, which it uses on flights to Perth in Australia, Osaka and Fukuoka in Japan, and other destinations, it said at a news conference in Taipei, adding it would use its seventh or eighth on the route to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

SIA, the first carrier to fly the longest iteration of the Boeing 787, said it planned to start operating it to Taoyuan before the end of the year, but pushed back the date due to a slight delay in delivery.

The Taiwan-Singapore route is currently served by the Airbus A330, which has 285 seats, compared with 335 seats on the Boeing 787-10, SIA general manager Melvin Ng (黃文杰) said.

”We want to attract more passengers from Singapore to Taiwan and vice versa,” he said.

Approximately 400,000 passengers flew from Singapore to Taiwan last year and the airline gave a positive outlook for passenger growth.